Hinton train collision
The collision occurred on a stretch of Canadian National Railway's transcontinental main line west of Edmonton, near the town of Hinton, Alberta.
It departed Medicine Lodge at 08:02 and traveled 5 km (3.1 mi), reaching Hargwen at 08:20 where a section of double track started.
[7] The freight train proceeded past the Dalehurst control point, running through the switch and into the section of single track.
At 08:40, approximately 18 seconds after the lead locomotive of the freight train entered the single section, it collided head on with the oncoming Super Continental.
On the passenger train, one coach was crushed by a freight car after it was thrown into the air by the force of the collision, killing one of its occupants.
The inquiry concluded that no one individual was to blame; instead it condemned what Foisy described as a "railroader culture" that prized loyalty and productivity at the expense of safety.
While this method saved time and fuel, it was a flagrant violation of safety regulations which required stationary brake tests after a crew change.
In regards to engineer John Hudson, the Foisy Commission concluded it was a possibility that the collision happened because he had either fallen asleep at the controls or had suffered a heart attack or stroke due to his extremely poor health.
No evidence could be found to explain why the freight train failed to stop at the absolute signal at the Dalehurst control point.
The Commission finds that both the policies and procedures that permitted a man in Hudson's medical state to be responsible for the operation of a freight train on the CN main line to be unacceptable.
[2]Another frequently ignored safety regulation mentioned in the report was the "deadman's pedal", which a locomotive engineer had to keep depressed for the train to remain underway.
Were he to fall asleep or pass out, his foot would slip from the pedal, triggering an alarm and engaging the train's brakes automatically a few seconds later.
However, many engineers found this tiresome and bypassed the pedal by placing a heavy weight (often a worn out brake shoe) on it.
It was the last FP9 in service on Via Rail before it was retired in September 2011, and it was subsequently acquired by the British Columbia Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
[10] Smith was dismissed from CN on July 25, 1986 "for failure to fulfill the responsibilities of a Conductor" in ensuring the brakes were properly tested prior to the accident and "for failure to comply with General Operating Instruction" since he did not take action to stop the freight train when Hudson and Edwards failed to respond from the lead locomotive.
[11] The disaster was featured in "Head-on Collision", a season-3 (2005) Crash Scene Investigation episode of the Canadian TV series Mayday.
[12] For broadcasters that do not use the series name Mayday, this is one of three Season 3 episodes labelled as Crash Scene Investigation spin-offs, examining marine or rail disasters.
